This is a system Apple rigged together to run early prototypes of its iPhone software in 2006. It tethered a plastic touch-screen device – code-named “Wallaby” – to an outdated Mac to simulate the slower speeds of a phone hardware.

Apple

The secret meeting room where most of the design decisions for the original iPhone’s software were made is “hallowed ground” to Greg Christie, who designs the software interface for Apple products and one of the first members recruited to work on the device in 2004.

It doesn’t mean that the windowless room, lit by fluorescent lights hanging from the ceiling, looked like anything special. Christie recalled the walls had signs of water damage from a flood in an adjacent bathroom. A few images covered the walls including one of Apple’s “Think Different” posters of famous graphic designer Paul Rand and another of a large chicken running around without its head.

This is the first time that Apple, one of the most secretive companies in the technology world, publicly shared details of the iPhone’s development. It comes, not coincidentally, a few days ahead of the start of next week’s patent infringement trial with Samsung Electronics. Apple’s intention was to show the hard work and effort put forth by Christie and other employees to bring the innovative iPhone to the market.